Wednesday, December 31, 2014

These are my most anticipated books of 2015 (so far). I know this is going to barely scratch the surface of the books I want to read in the new year. I am listing the ones I know for sure I will need to read in 2015. I even have a hold on a few already from the library in anticipation of the release.Fairest by Melissa Meyer. If you are a fan of The Lunar Chronicles you know why this is a must read. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. The awesome people who run EpicReads have been talking this one up so it's already on hold at the library.Confess by Colleen Hoover. I am a new fan of Colleen Hoover and I cannot wait for this book.The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige. I'm a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz. It is one of my favorite movies of all time and this series puts a dark twist into the story that is spectacular. The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon. If you have not read The Bone Season you need to read it immediately then sadly have to wait for the sequel like the rest of us sad mortals. Empire of Night by Kelley Armstrong. This is the sequel to Sea of Shadows which was awesome and you should read it then when the sequel comes out read it too.

Monday, December 29, 2014

These were my top reads of 2014. I absolutely loved these books and I am so glad I picked them up this year. I also noticed I owned all of these books except for three which is pretty awesome also. 1) Saga V1,V2,V3 by Brian K. Vaughan (Slightly cheating since they are a series but I am counting them as one).2) Breakable by Tammara Webber3) Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth4) Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz 5) The Enchanted by Rene Denfield 6) Amy and Rogers Epic Detour by Morgan Matson7) Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi 8) Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund 9) The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson 10) Thousand Words- Jennifer Brown

Friday, December 26, 2014

Title: The Other StoryAuthor: Tatiana De RosnaySource: Borrowed from the librarySeries: StandaloneRating: 3/5Goodreads Summary:Vacationing at a luxurious Tuscan island resort, Nicolas Duhamel is hopeful that the ghosts of his past have finally been put to rest… Now a bestselling author, when he was twenty-four years old, he stumbled upon a troubling secret about his family – a secret that was carefully concealed. In shock, Nicholas embarked on a journey to uncover the truth that took him from the Basque coast to St. Petersburg – but the answers wouldn’t come easily.

In the process of digging into his past, something else happened. Nicolas began writing a novel that was met with phenomenal success, skyrocketing him to literary fame whether he was ready for it or not – and convincing him that he had put his family’s history firmly behind him. But now, years later, Nicolas must reexamine everything he thought he knew, as he learns that, however deeply buried, the secrets of the past always find a way out.The novel is about a man named Nicholas who has written a best selling book loosely based around his time when he lost his passport and found out his nationality is not what he thought. He finds out his father is from Russia and he writes a novel called The Envelope. Nicholas tells his agent when he is heading a remote island with his girlfriend that he is going to write another novel but since writing The Envelope Nicolas has not been able write anything. He has been lying to everyone around him and just enjoying the glory of people on the street recognizing him. The main character is not a like able guy at all. He is very full of himself and thinks the world should revolve around him. His ex-girlfriend broke up with him because of the way he acted after The Envelope came out. His new girlfriend is a quite, passive girl who seems to follow everything he does. The other character's, including Nicholas's new girlfriend is not an enjoyable person. The plot was interesting, but for such a small book it took me a long time to read it. I was pretty disappointed overall with this novel. I feel like not a lot happens besides watching Nicholas run from his problems. I was frustrated often and when I put the book down I did not feel an urge to pick it back up. This is getting a 3/5 from me since I did enjoy the plot and her writing, but the characters were uninteresting and frustrating.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.Me and my husband did our Christmas early since our week is packed with working, and Christmas between our two families. My sister and I also exchanged gifts a little early this year too. I will likely have another Christmas haul :)GiftedGone Girl- Gillian FlynnDark Places- Gillian FlynnSharp Objects- Gillian FlynnAcross the Universe- Beth Revis A Million Suns- Beth Revis Shades of Earth- Beth RevisThe Body Electric- Beth Revis Roadie: My Life on the road with Coldplay- Matt McGinnA Wild Sheep Chase- Haruki Murakami * My secret Santa at work included a Chapters gift card and my sister also included a chapters gift card with her gift of books. BorrowedThe Bone Clocks- David Mitchell

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

I love to put down my goals for the new year. I find it helps a lot and I like going through my goals from the year before and see how much they helped me.Last year my goals were read one e-book a month (failed at this one), read one of my own books for every book I borrow (I succeeded some months, but not all), finish incomplete series on my shelf (I finished some but not all of the books I wanted to finish), read everyday (mostly succeeded with this one) , stick to my monthly TBR (mostly succeeded with this one), re-read books ( I did good until the last part of the year), read big books (I didn't do as well as I wanted on this one), get out of my reading comfort zone (accomplished) and my last goal was to only buy as many as I read (failed).This year my goals are:1) Read 200 books (including comics and graphic novels)2) Stick to my TBR 3) Read at least one e-book a month4) Buy less books (I am trying to buy 5 books a month)5) Read one book off my shelf for every book I borrow6) Donate more books- if I don't want to read it just give it away7) Read books that have been sitting on my self for a long time

Friday, December 12, 2014

Title: The Boy Who Drew MonstersAuthor: Keith DonohueSource: ARC for review from publisherSeries: StandaloneRating: 4/5Goodreads Summary:Ever since he nearly drowned in the ocean three years earlier, ten-year-old Jack Peter Keenan has been deathly afraid to venture outdoors. Refusing to leave his home in a small coastal town in Maine, Jack Peter spends his time drawing monsters. When those drawings take on a life of their own, no one is safe from the terror they inspire. His mother, Holly, begins to hear strange sounds in the night coming from the ocean, and she seeks answers from the local Catholic priest and his Japanese housekeeper, who fill her head with stories of shipwrecks and ghosts. His father, Tim, wanders the beach, frantically searching for a strange apparition running wild in the dunes. And the boy’s only friend, Nick, becomes helplessly entangled in the eerie power of the drawings. While those around Jack Peter are haunted by what they think they see, only he knows the truth behind the frightful occurrences as the outside world encroaches upon them all.

I was sent this book by the publisher through a Goodreads group I am apart of for an honest review. The novel is about a young boy named Jack Peter who has Augsburg's. His parents struggle to understand him and his mother contemplates having him put into an institution. Jack becomes obsessed with drawing pictures and his parents encourage him until strange things start happening in the small town they live in. Jack Peter nearly drowned with his best friend, Nick when they are seven in the ocean. Jip as his father calls him is terrified of leaving the house and has refused to do so without being dragged out. Nick keeps going to Jack Peter's house because his parents tell him to even though he find the little boy odd.The parents in this novel were all pretty awful in their own ways. Jack Peter's mom wants ti lock him up, his father stays home with him but seems to be more concerned about the comings and goings of Nick's mother. Nick's parents are drunks who do not seem to notice their son at all and constantly bring him to Jack Peter's house. The premise of a little boy being able to draw monsters and bring them to life is completely strange but unique. This book is super creepy. I liked the idea but the actual story was a little dragged out, there was a lot of story lines and characters that were brought in that did not seem to have a point at all. Overall it was interesting but not

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Title: Finding CinderellaAuthor: Colleen HooverSource: Free on KindleSeries: Standalone/ companion to Hopeless seriesRating: 4/5Goodreads Summary: A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love comes with conditions: they agree it will only last one hour and it will only be make-believe.When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them only seemed perfect because they were pretending it was perfect. Moments like that with girls like her don’t happen outside of fairy tales.One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in insta-love is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Daniel soon realizes the way he pretended to feel about Cinderella and the way he really feels about Six may not be so different after all. Especially when the two loves of his life end up being one in the same.This is the third book I have read by Colleen Hoover and like the other two books she did not disappoint. The premise of this story is about a boy who finds himself with a free period due to an administrative error so he hangs out in a janitor's closet to make sure none knows he is not in a class. One day when he is sitting in there a girl comes in crying, they never exchange names, they just hang out together and he gives her the nickname of Cinderella. The story fast forwards a few years and the same boy just dumped his girlfriend and meets up with two friends (Holden and Sky) where he meets Six who is unlike any girl he has met before.This book is fast paced, short but makes an impact. I found the plot twist to be pretty obvious, however it did not make it any less emotional when the characters figured it out. It made me curious to read Holden's story in Hopeless which I purchased quite awhile ago for my kindle. I am fast becoming a huge fan of Colleen Hoover and I own two more of her books that I have yet to devour and I cannot wait to read these stories. The only recommendation I have for this is if you are interested in Hopeless I would suggest skipping this since it does feature characters from that novel also. The opening portion does advise this but it also does indicate that you can read this book first, but I felt like I would have enjoyed it a little more if I would have seen Daniel through Holden's POV first.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Goodreads Summary: Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told.There is.She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.She should.She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.She will now.Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer’s story.Retribution has arrived.

This is the final book in the Mara Dyer trilogy. I was super
excited about this book even when the release date got pushed back. I
absolutely loved the first two books, but the third book was a little
anti-climatic for me.

The POV is mostly from Mara until we get near the end of the
book then we start getting chapters in Noah’s POV which we did not get in the
other books which confused me. The other issue I found with this is if I did
not read the name at the top of the chapter I would not have known it was Noah
and not Mara. The voices were very similar. I also found Noah and Mara were not
the kick butt characters I was used to. Mara was needy and heavily relied on
the character around her to support her every step of the way which is not a
reflection of the first two books at all.

In the plot I also found some off references that made me
question the plot. At one point Mara, Stella and Jamie make a Hunger’s Game
reference about district 12. This completely pulled me out of the story and
made me question when they would have time to read/watch the Hunger Games
movies between running for their lives and being locked in a “treatment
facility”.I know it’s silly but it
pulled me out of the story and made the story line inconsistent. I also felt
like some of the chapters skipped almost. The characters would be in one
setting then without any explanation they would jump to somewhere new. I
re-read a few pages over again to ensure I did not skip any pages, it felt like
it got cut out but the plot hole was never repaired.

Overall I loved this series, but the third book was
disappointing. There is a lot of story that has not been explained or any
guidance given to where the story is going or where the characters are going
from here. The story feels incomplete.

Friday, December 5, 2014

This month I did not get a lot of reading done. I was really sick and I had a hard time getting into a few books this month.The ListMy Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece- Annabel PitcherObsidian- Jennifer L. ArmentroutThe Bronze Horseman- Paulina SimonsThe Demon King- Cinda Williams Chima

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.I have a gigantic birthday haul this year since my amazing husband took me to the Book Outlet store and then also paid for my books plus my dad gave me some cash for my birthday and the rule is we can\t spend it on bills so I went to Chapters and got some more books and a blanket :)GiftedThirteen- Kelley Armstrong Slammed- Colleen HooverPoint of Retreat- Colleen Hoover The Gathering Storm- Robin BridgesEleanor and Park- Rainbow Rowell (Collector's edition)Slide- Jill Hathaway A Separate Peace- John Knowles Mistborn: The Final Empire- Brandon SandersonThe Faerie Ring- Kiki HamiltonFahrenheit 451- Ray BradburyYou Don't Know Me- David Klass (repurchase- my original copy is beat up from many re-reads)Bought UsedThirteen Reasons Why- Jay Asher The Girl You Left Behind- Jojo MoylesThe Paris Wife- Paula McLain Girl, Interrupted- Susanna Kaysen Gameboard of the Gods- Richelle MeadBought NewThe Diviners- Libba BrayThe Retribution of Mara Dyer- Michelle HodkinMortal Heart- Robin LaFevers All the Light We Cannot See- Anthony Doerr

Monday, December 1, 2014

It's crazy that this will be my last TBR post of 2014. December for me is always a crazy busy month with family gatherings and Christmas so I am going to try not to put too much pressure on myself.The ListThe Boy Who Drew Monsters- Keith Donohue The Bronze Horseman- Paullina Simons The Retribution of Mara Dyer- Michelle HodkinMortal Heart- Robin LaFevers All the Light We Cannot See- Anthony DoerrI'll Meet You There- Heather Demetrios The other goals I setting for myself this month:1) Buy less books than I read2) Donate at least one book3) Re-read at least one book